Dear visitors of my blog,
first of all I wish everyone who finds the way to my page to have a good time and to enjoy the stories and comments posted on this site!
Being a Berlin based architect and having a deep passion for this city, I intend to create a web space for interesting stories from its past to the present.
Let´s start with what the page name 'Under the Linden tree' is about...
Thinking about the concept of the blog, an old song came to my mind, which was part of a compilation a friend gave me some time ago on a tape (that was when tapes were still in common use..). The compilation´s name was 'American war songs' and the song´s name 'I´ve always wanted to dance in Berlin'. The songs were from the times between 1933 and 1947 and were meant to motivate the American GI´s fighting against Nazi Germany and it´s allies. The lyrics are at times serious, often optimistic and even humorous.
The song I thought of was sung by so called Mr. 'Little Jack Little' and I suppose while producing the song, end of World War II was already close because the Lyrics tell how the singer´s dreaming of marching and flying into Berlin and dancing 'under the Linden tree' soon. So what is the Linden tree in English, it´s limetree. Anyway there are many German words used in those lyrics which show the ironic attitude. I decided not to go for the lime but the Linden tree intending to give my page local and historical identity.
Even back then this kind of tree seemed to be something typical for Berlin: The street 'Unter den Linden' which symbolises the old city center (pls. see picture p.1 below) and unites many important historical sites may be one reason. Moreover we find the Linde very often in the city´s streets - to be exact there were 154.968 Linden trees counted by the city´s council by the end of 2013 (For more information check this link: http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/umwelt/stadtgruen/stadtbaeume/de/daten_fakten/uebersichten/index.shtml). Last but not least such a Linden tree stands right in front of my window as I´m writing this... :)
Conclusively two more things:
1. The singer, Mr. Little Jack Little, thought of coming to Berlin as a soldier in order to bring freedom and to demolish the old fascist order. Though I totally agree with his attempt back then, I´m happy that today people stream to Berlin visiting the city for other reasons - namely the quality of life, its rich history and its cultural diversity and community.
2. I´m actually worrying about the Linden population since this summer: As it was the hottest for a long long time especially them started partly to get yellow leafs even in August.. and the residents were asked to give water to the street trees! Hopefully we have just a bit (!) more rain next summer and the Linden turn out to be tough survivors in times of climate change...
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| P.1: "Lindenallee 1691", later Boulevard "Unter den Linden", painting by Johann Stridbeck the Younger, watercolor Source:"Unter den Linden", edited by Birgit Verwiebe. G-und-H-Verlag, Berlin 1997. ISBN 3-951768-09-0 |
